Makerere University (Uganda) To Start E-Learning

A new African DL initiative. Here's the story:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200508150642.html
Jack

 

God bless 'em!

 

That's excellent news, good for Uganda, good for Africa more generally.

 

Cautiously optimisic

It's a good thing but I still doubt that Uganda has the necessary infrastructure that would support e-Learning or online programs. In fact, very few African countries have reliable telecommunication infrastructure at present. When I was a doctoral student, my first dissertation proposal, which was rejected, was on “the state of telecommunication networks and infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa and their suitability for e-Learning”. Preliminary study, which I did for problem statement section of my proposal, showed that telecommunication networks and infrastructure in three African countries that I anticipated to use as case studies for my research were either obsolescing or already dilapidated.

 

Re: Cautiously optimisic

Hi Ike. Good points.

Along these lines, Larry Press of CSUDH's School of Management has published quite a bit of stuff on the diffusion of the internet in developing countries. (Mostly in South Asia). A lot of it is available online here:

http://som.csudh.edu/fac/lpress/interest.htm

He's part of a bigger group of people working on the same thing. More country reports are online here:

http://mosaic.unomaha.edu/gdi.html

Some reports, including one on Uganda, that were completed for the International Telecommunications Union are available here

http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/cs/

 

Re: Re: Cautiously optimisic

I don't know a whole lot about conditions in Uganda, but I'm willing to bet that the percentage of people with personal computers and internet access is far less there than here.

But it's possible to imagine ways to work it. If reasonably reliable telecomunications are available into regional centers, then perhaps strategically located secondary schools or libraries could acquire some computers and function as remote university sites.

And if Uganda has decent mail service, whether home delivery or to post office boxes in town, there's aways correspondence. It isn't stylish, but it works.

 

Re: Re: Cautiously optimisic

Thanks. Materials on the Web links above are very informative.

 

Re: Re: Cautiously optimisic

These are good questions. Perhaps less than 1% of Ugandans own a PC at home (this is a conjecture). Based on my experience, I don't believe that reliance on computers in Internet cafe and library alone will suffice for online education. Pure online education usually involve typing of assignments, email correspondences, participation in threaded discussion, etc. Besides, 10 hours per week usage of Internet cafes might be unaffordable for many Ugandans.

 

Makerere University actually has a pretty good website.
http://www.makerere.ac.ug
Jack

 

A related story:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200508170949.html
Jack

 

Just another follow-up. It seems they've decided NOT to raise fees (this year).
http://allafrica.com/stories/200508250708.html
Jack

 

I hope it works.Makerere university is one of the most respected universities in Africa. Some historians even compare it to the ancient sankoro university in ancient Timbuktu. However sankoro university collapsed as a result of geo political problems that bedeviled the ancient Songhai and Mali empires. A little history for you.

Makeree University may be able to achieve this only if President Yoweri Museveni will be able to help allocate funds to boost the university. A problem that is affecting many good African Universities.

This University has a reputation like the ivy leagues here in the United States, but it has gone through a lot of neglect ( poor funding) from the government of Uganda and a mass exodus of the professors to the countries of the western hemisphere.

If you can remember history ,many of the well known professors of the school went into exile during the regime of Idi Amin in the 70’s because they were either harassed or killed for propagating views against the Amin’s dictatorship. It still seems to be the story today. President Museveni’s government is now a dictatorship and his agents heavily monitors the activities of the university lectures.

I t will be a good start if makerere can achieve this endeavor, but I think this may just be a wishy washy public relations jargon from a confused government.